The Time Association
by Courage and Love
Summary: The flock is in an NYC subway tunnel again, but something is different. As new enemies emerge, Max is left with a handful of questions and no answers. This is a crossover between five books, but you don't have to know all of them to read it. What is the Time Association? You will find out.
1. New York City - Again

**There will be questions... so many questions... and none will be answered just yet. Read on if you dare!**

 **Chapter 1: New York City – Again**

The cool wind whirling past you, the sun warming your back and wings, the powerful feeling of being carried above the world... Flying was the wonder of the bird-kid world.

Unfortunately, I was as far from the air as you could get. The flock had held a vote for where to sleep for the night, and I was sadly outnumbered. Sure, everyone had wanted to sleep in a tree too, but once they found out about the honey-roasted peanut stand right outside the subway entrance, safety and survival was pushed out of their mind.

"It's not easy to fly out of subway tunnels, you know." I complained halfheartedly. I was the leader. I had the authority to kick their behinds to where I wanted to sleep. But I also wanted those honey-roasted peanuts.

Fang looked at me. "The ride's almost over," he said quietly. "They should be able to enjoy some of it." I knew what he meant, and it made my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. We had been trying to stop near-catastrophes created by companies from destroying the world recently; soon, life on Earth was bound to be ended. Our luck would run out fast, I could tell.

I surveyed my flock. Nudge and Gazzy were playing a game of cards bought by my mom, Dr. Valencia Martinez. Iggy was listening to music on an i-Pod and scowling. I knew how much he hated the Big City. Angel was sitting against the grubby subway wall, watching the other homeless people intently. I shivered at the look on her petite face. Angel, my angel, was just... _different_ than she had been a year ago. Everything about the stoic seven-year-old now was enough to give me chills.

Fang, too, was a different bird-kid than he once was, but in a less-scary way. He still stood tall and silent, still was _Fang_ , but I was not sure I knew him anymore. The flock had changed, and it would probably never be the same again.

With a grunt, I excused myself to buy more honey-roasted peanuts. The only reason we were in New York, anyway, was because my mom had recommended visiting beautiful places around the country. Not that I considered the city as beautiful. Unless smog, smoke, and cigarettes counted.

At the top of the long stairwell to the steel-and-concrete world above, the honey-roasted peanut vendor waited patiently while I fished through my pockets for a spare dollar. When I turned up with a five, he handed me a peanut bag and my change. I spun around and headed back down the subway.

No one was actually waiting for the subway on the platform, so I wasn't even given questioning looks when I walked down the tunnel. Hopping over the third rail, I dropped down beside my flock on the narrow ledge where the homeless people stayed. Again, their choice, not mine.

"Yo, guys, who wants a bag of the world's best honey-roasted peanuts?" I said, shaking the bag in Iggy's face. He pushed it aside.

It must have been late, because Gazzy and Angel were already asleep. They were curled up like homeless cats, and it made my heart heavy. I looked away. Nudge was drifting off as I watched. Iggy pulled out his ear-buds and stretched. "Too tired, can't eat," he mumbled.

I turned to Fang. "I go out of my way to get chow for them, and all they do is sleep instead?" Fang shrugged, which was probably the only response I was going to get from him.

Patting down the cold, hard, _damp_ (who was here last, anyway?) wall, I popped half of the honey-roasted peanuts into my mouth in one handful and allowed my wings a little breathing room. I sometimes wished we didn't have to hide our wings from the normal world, but our windbreakers did a fine job of covering them. Beside me, Fang was blogging, made obvious by the telltale blue glow of the MacBook. I decided against reading what he was posting. It would probably just make me annoyed.

The normal homeless people were also pulling their shabby blankets over themselves and switching off their battery-powered lights. I checked my watch. Was it already that late? Sure enough, the bloodstained, electric face read 10:47. We had come to the subway tunnels to sleep about 30 minutes ago, so... dang, I wasn't good at math. Either way, it had been surprisingly late out when we had arrived.

 _Go to sleep, Max._

My eyes snapped open. The Voice! No, not my voice, _the_ Voice. You know, the one inside my head. You know you're crazy when things like this become normal.

 _What now?_ I snarled in my head. The Voice didn't respond as usual.

I shifted on the stony ledge in the darkness. Just as my eyelids began to droop, it surprised me by speaking again: s _omething is coming._ Before I could utter a sound, I was plunged into a dreamless slumber.

"Excuse me, children."

I awoke immediately, springing to my feet and nearly falling off the ledge onto the third rail. The rest of the flock had similar responses.

Standing before us, looking very out of place with glittery makeup and glossy, buoyant blond hair, was a tiny girl—no, woman. She was tiny, more than a foot shorter than me (even though I was already taller than most people), and I immediately felt on edge. I wasn't quite sure what it was about the petite, big-eyed person, but I knew at once that she was trouble. Angel stiffened next to me. Her voice flashed into my mind: _Horror - get away - Max!_ I whirled to look at her, but she wasn't paying any attention to me. The queer expression on her face made me much more than uneasy.

"Children." The little lady sighed with exaggerated patience. "There is something I must ask you to do for me." I was altogether prepared to take flight just then, but some invisible force stopped me. I found myself staring straight into her eyes. The woman looked at each of our tense, strangely frozen faces, and said in a voice that would have chilled my blood had I been feeling particularly sane at the moment, "There are other children who need to behave. Would you bring over their suitcase for me?" It was not intended as a question.

The lady pointed down the dark, grubby walkway-ledge to where four dark-haired boys were sleeping; it was still not yet midnight. A suitcase rested between them.

I realized suddenly, the first clear thought to push through my mind, that this was mind-control. This was not Angel's doing. This was not normal.


	2. Mindless Madness

**Chapter 2: Mindless Madness**

Angel was shocked by the ruthless, inhuman thoughts swirling inside her head.

They came from the person in front of her, naturally. Angel's mind-reading and controlling abilities came in handy countless times, but at the moment, she felt completely overloaded by the malicious brain of the lady – no, pixie – who was working her own magic on the flock. As Angel tried to sort out the overwhelming and mind-blowing thoughts, Max sprang up in defense, only to have a look of confusion cross her face when the fairy woman began speaking things that only Angel could see the meaning behind. All of the stunning pixie's horribly fascinating plans became visible in Angel's mind, and she suddenly knew – if not understood – what the fairy wanted with that suitcase.

Angel easily ignored her hypnotizing magic mentally, and the evil fairy seemed confused but not very caring at this. _That idiot child doesn't matter,_ Angel heard. _It is not part of the plan. It is not important if some are not affected._ Angel stared at her stoically. _Getting on my nerves, though,_ Opal (for that was the pixie's name) thought, turning her attention to the flock.

Iggy was frowning in a dreamy sort of way, but not following the fairy's orders; he was blind, after all, and Angel knew through mind-reading that the magic only worked through both eye-contact and sound. It was perplexing, but it made sense in a way. Gazzy was shaking his head a bit, but Angel could see that he was walking towards the sleeping kids and the suitcase despite this. Nudge's eyes took on a dull look that differed from her usual sparkle. Fang was obviously fighting the magic – Angel didn't need to hear his thoughts to tell. He wasn't moving forwards, though. Max, as Angel watched, strained and was actually breaking through the pixie's enchantment, to the annoyance of the egotistical fairy.

Angel had a split second to act, and she knew it. She also knew she was considerably bright for a _seven_ -year-old, so she had to decide fast. She could stop the magic-wielding fairy with her own mind powers and save the flock. But, for some reason, something was holding her back. The pixie's thoughts churned in her head. _Save the flock?_ Angel thought. She could do it; it would be simple to mentally force Opal the pixie to stop her magic. Her chance to help them would be over in an instant.

Angel made her choice.

The moment passed.


	3. Chaos in the Tunnel

**Just to let you know, I already have the first, like, six chapters written. I was going to hold each one for a week to get you all craving more, but then I realized I couldn't wait either. So, things are being posted a tad faster than I anticipated. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 3: Chaos in the Tunnel**

 _Stop, stop, stop, stop._

It took almost all my physical and mental strength to fight against the fun-size mind controller. It didn't leave room for other thoughts. The best I could do was try to get a failing grip on my head and glance wildly at the others. This unnaturally beautiful lady was trouble, and no good could come from us doing her dirty work under a mind spell. Was she working with the horrible scientists at the School, the death prison where we were created? I had no way of knowing… yet.

The little woman pointed a manicured finger at the four sort of innocent-looking teenagers sleeping against the wall along with dozens of other shaggy homeless people. The black leather suitcase she wanted was right there. It would be so easy… "Do not disobey me," she warned, and I felt the power of her sentence. I shut my eyes tight and refused to walk, yet I couldn't help but peek at the blonde woman. Her gaze was magical, weakening, even _mesmerizing._

 _The flock._ I managed to move my eyes away from her, and I saw Gazzy walk along the subway ledge toward the four boys and the special _suitcase_ that the tiny _nutcase_ wanted us to retrieve. I wanted to cry out. Nudge was already there. We were all under a spell of sorts, some fighting harder than others.

I couldn't snap out of it, but I _wouldn't_ give in. Maybe if I concentrated… I gathered up all of my remaining energy and spun around to face the glittery, perfect face doing this to us. That alone nearly zapped me.

She didn't have time to register the shock on her face. In a flash I provided a roundhouse kick where that shock would have been.

At this point, you should probably know that the flock had been on the run from the worst nightmares on earth ever since we had escaped from the dog crates at the School (long story), and we'd been trained to fight for our lives ever since then. Besides, we were genetically modified to be stronger than the average bodybuilder.

So it was no surprise that, with a loud gasp, the sparkly woman's head snapped back and she crumpled to the floor.

The hypnotized feeling faded instantly. I nearly fell over from the weak and drained sensation it left me with. The flock stumbled over to my side, and we surrounded the collapsed lady. Gazzy spoke what was on everybody's mind.

"What… was that?"

I hugged him tightly and mussed his golden hair, the kind of hair that only an eight-year-old mutant could have. He was shaking hard.

The lady opened her eyes and tried to pick herself up off the concrete floor. I held her down with my mud-covered boot. She sighed like this was going nowhere, and, while glaring at us, began fixing her disheveled hair. _On the ground. With me pinning her down._ Fang and I exchanged looks of disbelief. It appeared we were dealing with either someone who was used to this, or else we had a very _vain_ enemy on our hands.

"Really, you children shouldn't have done that," she said, as if talking about the weather. I didn't like it.

Ignoring her for a second, I surveyed my flock. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy were with me, determined and angry. But–

"Angel?" I asked.

Angel glanced up from staring at the lady, looking like she hadn't noticed we were still here. She had been standing still with an indecipherable expression on her face before I had called her name. I looked at her uneasily. I didn't recall her being under the mental influence.

She walked over to stand beside me but didn't say a word.

I turned my attention back to the lady who wanted to use us, deciding to deal with the six-year-old mutant later. "What do you want with us?" I snarled, shrugging off my windbreaker. We would have to escape soon, I could feel it, but first I wanted answers.

The tiny woman didn't answer, but, as you know, I _wanted answers_. This was different than anything I'd ever faced before. Who was she? Why did she have mind control, or something like it? What did she want with that suitcase, and why couldn't she get it herself?

"Well?" I asked, glaring at her from above my boot, eyes narrowed.

I wasn't scared; we'd been through much worse. Even so, I was a bit freaked out on the inside. (Freaked? Oh, the irony of mutant puns.) We were on the edge between fight-or-flight at that moment. Nudge and Iggy were slowly unzipping their blue and grey windbreakers to prepare.

At last, surrounded by us, the tiny blonde woman responded, "I may have a use for you. Now let me up, otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your poor, wasted life, I can assure you."

 _Not a chance._ We had to get away from her. "Up and away, guys!" I commanded. As one, the flock took off their windbreakers to take off into the air _as soon_ as we got away. _What did I tell them about exits in subway tunnels?_ The strange woman was still pinned down by my boot, but I'd have to get off her and run fast, fast, fast if I was going to make it.


	4. The Enemy of Your Enemy

**Chapter 4: The Enemy of Your Enemy**

"Let me up," the lady seethed from under my boot, "otherwise you will regret ruining my gorgeous outfit, and you will regret ever disobeying your future queen's command."

Thinking of what could come in future months, I bent down so I was inches from her tiny face. "Listen up, wackjob. If you were going to be our queen, I'd rather have the apocalypse."

Her unwavering brown eyes met my gaze, and I remembered what she'd done to us. I quickly straightened up again.

The woman suddenly calmed. "You useless children are foolish. I will not miss you." She turned her head to the side so that she faced the long stretch of sleeping homeless people. _"Fight for me! Six human children must pay for their actions!_ "

 _Nuts._

She was using her mind control powers again. The raggedy people were stirring at her magical voice, and upon waking up, they looked directly at her position on the ground. _No,_ I realized. _At her eyes._ Her magic must have worked with both eye contact and sound. I held the flock back with one hand, hoping they had also gotten the message. Pressing my boot into her head instead, I tried to force her to stop.

Too late.

Her voice continued to flow like honey over the cluster of people, and they didn't appear to be resisting at all. Slowly, they made their way closer, winding around tattered blankets, cardboard boxes, and stragglers.

"Max? What do we do?"

I didn't glance at Nudge, who was probably wide-eyed and scared. My flock was in deep, deep trouble. The only way out would be to either injure dozens of more-or-less innocent people or expose our wings in an escape. Neither way was ideal.

At that moment I noticed something weird (I mean weirder than normal). The four teenagers that the deranged lady had wanted us to steal from… stood up. Okay, that wasn't strange since everyone was getting up due to the mind magic, but they stood _still_. None of them seemed to be under the influence to kill us.

As the first wave of possessed people attacked us and Fang took them down easily while I held down our enemy, I continued to glance at the four boys. I had absolutely no idea why they weren't under the spell. In the dim light, I could only tell that they all had dark hair.

"Angel," I hissed as Iggy joined Fang in holding the crowd back, "can you get a read on those guys back there?" Her mind controlling abilities came in handy many times when scoping out threats.

Angel looked at me. "No," she replied earnestly, twirling her golden curls. "Nothing."

Somehow I had a feeling she was lying.

"Max, we can't do this forever you know," Iggy remarked while smashing two people's heads together.

I winced. "I'm working on it." I wracked my brains for ideas. "Could you try not to hurt them?"

"Unlikely," Fang said, giving an old man a roundhouse kick in the ribs. "Just keep coming. Like rats."

A scraggly guy tried to tackle me from the side. "Snap out of it!" I shouted in his face. When he didn't I shoved him into the subway wall. A loud crack followed.

"They're not going to stop until they're dead. And by then, you will be too," the woman under my boot said. She tried to shift so she could see me, but I pressed down hard. "Oww!"

Ignoring her some more, I snapped my fingers at Gazzy and Nudge. "Help hold them off," I ordered. They obeyed without question.

I knew better than to order Angel around. She would probably do something unpredictable and violent, claiming that she herself would be a better leader than me, yada, yada, yada. Instead, I left her to her own creepy devices.

The scraggly guy got back up again. I couldn't believe it; he must have cracked some ribs. Even so, he came back at me with that hypnotized look in his eyes. I punched him in the jaw, and he fell to the floor.

Suddenly, an explosion of light hit the wave of homeless zombies from the back. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy stopped fighting to watch in surprise, backpedaling away from the light's targets. I squinted in the sudden brightness, but it faded quickly.

The whole group of homeless people was frozen stiff. One by one, the people fell over face-first onto the grimy subway tunnel ground.

"No! Get off me, street mongrel!" The woman under my boot twisted and turned, but I kept her firmly in place, my eyes still on the back of the subway ledge.

The four boys had helped us.

One, the second-tallest, was holding a stick. He had it pointed in front of him.

"Max?" Nudge asked in a high-pitched voice. "Is that…."

"Yeah," I replied. I wasn't stupid.

The stick in the boy's hand was a wand.


	5. Flatulence

**Chapter 5: Flatulence**

I didn't trust them. And I sure as heck didn't trust the kid with the wand.

"Ah, Opal, it appears you've bleached your hair," another one commented loudly. "Is that because you became tired of brown, or are you trying to hide from the police?" He walked up past the frozen homeless people towards the woman, who was apparently named Opal, being held down by me. "If so, I'm afraid it is not working."

"NO!" screeched Opal, straining against me. "Leave me be, you —"

"Who are you?" I interrupted, glaring at the guy. So one had a wand. Nothing should have surprised me.

The teenager ignored my question. "Opal," he said, looking down at the woman under my shoe, "we are not concealing any magical devices that could grant someone power in any way. Cease your constant attempts at stealing from us, and I will have you let go."

Opal screeched in rage again, but I shouted over her. "Wait a minute! Who even are you?" I snarled. "I'm not going to let some looney mind controller go free just because some magic-wielding wackos say so!" I heard Opal take a breath to object, so I stomped down hard.

The boy looked up at me with determined, dark blue eyes. "We can fix that, don't worry," he said.

What did he mean by that? And anyway, I still didn't know what that old suitcase was for, the one Opal wanted us to steal in the first place, or the answer to any of those other puzzling mysteries. I narrowed my eyes. "You're not —"

"Listen, you don't have to do anything," said another one, the tallest, addressing me. "If you came with us, we could —"

Not a chance. " _Up and Away!_ " I shouted immediately, taking the four boys by surprise. "Three o-clock, Ig!"

The directions were for Iggy, who of course needed them to get out of a barely-familiar subway tunnel. Before any of the four teens could react, the flock had shed its windbreakers and taken to the air.

I stretched out my wings, praying that they would think they had imagined what was happening, stepped off Opal, and soared up, up, and outta there. Nudge let out a mournful moan at leaving her light blue windbreaker behind, but not even she stopped to grab it. The dimly lit tunnel streaked past me in shades of grey and brown, my flock airborne beside me. Our wings almost brushed in the limited space. Again, I cursed the flock for choosing to sleep down there.

Taking inventory of the flock, I nearly backpedaled in the air. "Oh – no!" I gasped.

Nudge bumped into me, sending us crashing onto the subway tracks. "What happened?" she asked worriedly. The flock landed around me, and together we moved onto the subway ledge that still stretched down the everlasting tunnel. I saw confused faces around me, occasionally looking back the way we'd come, nervous about being followed.

All of the flock was here, wondering why we stopped – except for Angel.

"Guys," I groaned, "where's Angel?"

The results of that sentence were instantaneous. Gazzy, after searching our group of five frantically, cried, "How did we not see she's not here?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Iggy sarcastically. "How could I have not seen her? It's crazy, really. I should have noticed."

This earned a shove from me. "Guys," I said slowly, hoping they would come to the same realization, "we've got to go back."

No one was happy; that was obvious. But we needed to get Angel back. I had absolutely no idea what those four teenagers and the evil woman, Opal, were going to do to her.

Not bothering to close our wings, we ran-flew all the way back to the part of the tunnel where we had left Angel. How could she not have realized we left? I began to wonder. She was right there, after all.

Any more speculations were driven from my mind as we reached the place.

Angel was there. She was staring at Opal, who was back on her feet and staring in return. My heart dropped into my stomach.

They were having a mental conversation. It was obvious by the way Opal looked scheming and intrigued. The four boys were there, too. One raised the wand again –

"Angel!" I bellowed. "Get over here now!"

She turned to look at me with indecision and an overpowering shadow hidden under her sweet features. How could she want to stay with this deranged monster? What could she possibly want? World domination?

 _More than that._

For a fraction of a second, I assumed the thought was the Voice again, but no, it was Angel and her creepy mind controlling and mind reading ability. She stared at me, and I felt like she could see into my soul.

She practically could.

"Angel!" I shouted again, glaring at her while knowing it wouldn't help. "Let's go!"

Gazzy looked at her desperately, tears spilling down his cheeks. "Angel?" he cried. "I'm gonna do it."

I didn't need to look at him to know what he was about to do, and it filled me with a desolate and slightly repulsed hole. "Angel. He will."

Angel looked at me, then at Opal who was watching this exchange with a haughty expression, and finally, she said, "All right, Max," in a completely angelic voice. I was so going to punish her later. She hopped up and unfolded her angel-white wings, flapping hard to stay aloft.

"Wait!" shouted one of the four boys who had not yet spoken to me, as if shaking himself out of a daze. I had forgotten they were still there. "Why – I mean, how – what are you?" he stammered.

I ignored him. "Let's go, guys." As soon as our bird-kid wings were unfolded and flapping, I replied, "Never say a word about us again." All four nodded in varying levels of agreement. Turning in midair and gripping Angel's arm firmly, I added, "I'm Max. That's all you need to know."

In seconds, we were gone – but not before Gazzy let loose one of his infamous explosions of flatulence. He wasn't called "the Gasman" for nothing.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Microsoft Word was acting up today, so don't blame me for any issues relating to grammar, spelling, or italics. I had fun making this chapter because it really branched out into different little scenes that I hadn't planned on, but it still made things interesting. So many unexplained things happened: Who were the four teenage boys? What were they hiding? What was in that suitcase? What was Angel hearing? Why was Opal doing what she did? Who was she? What about the wand? What will happen next?**

 **What is the secret that could take over the world and beyond?**

 **We shall see what we shall see...**


	6. Safe, for Now?

**Welcome to Part 2.**

 **This is where your mind explodes.**

 **I will have each chapter written in about a week now. I will not stop until I am done, because I hate it when other Fan Fiction writers leave things unfinished. Please comment if you wish.**

 **Chapter 6: Safe, for Now?**

The flock soared up and out, closing our wings at the last second before emerging from the subway. Gazzy's intestinal explosion must have moved fast because a green mushroom cloud came out of the subway entrance as soon as we made it out. The flock followed me as we walked casually down the New York street, morning commuters already filing out of office buildings. We headed down a side street and I immediately was struck by the smell of food. Not good food, but marginally edible food. I could see this from the food court in a small lot.

Being in the City that Never Slept, the food court was already open. A skinny guy in a bright orange t-shirt was running it.

Fang and I went up and ordered a dozen hamburgers for us to eat while the kids took a seat at the blue tables surrounding the stand. We usually ate a lot to sustain our metabolisms, but because of the incident in the subway tunnel I was feeling too paranoid to stand out by eating twenty burgers and a side salad.

Carrying the food over to the flock's table, Fang and I sat down to eat with them. After wolfing down two burgers each, the flock looked at me. I of course knew what to say.

"Well." Oh, what a way with words.

"Max, what are we going to do?" Nudge asked, her brown eyes wide.

"Yeah," Gazzy said. "Just 'cause I totally blew up their sense of smell doesn't mean they won't come back."

"Well," I said again, taking in their nervous faces, "we still don't know who that lady, Opal, was. We don't know why she has mind control, or why she wanted us to steal a suitcase."

"That wasn't mind control," Nudge piped up. "Angel's done it to me before, and that wasn't the same. It was more like Opal was charming us, y'know?" She looked at each of us. "Like, I felt compelled to do whatever she asked, because she just seemed so… beautiful, or something. Right?"

There was a pause. Then: "Yeah, I think Nudge is right," Iggy said slowly. "The lady's voice was so perfect, if that makes sense. But only during the spell."

I nodded. Now that the Nudge Channel mentioned it, Opal did appear too striking to disobey during the mind-enchantment. It was creepy.

"Where do we go next?" Gazzy asked, licking his hamburger wrapper.

"An alley," Fang said immediately. "Central Park's too obvious. They know we have wings. A tree would be their first place to look."

This was good enough for me. "C'mon, guys," I said, standing up. Casting a wary glance at the guy running the food court, I headed onto the street that was already filled with cars. A quick peek at my watch revealed that it was three a.m.

We walked down the sidewalk for what felt like eons. Just when the city appeared to be thinning into the outskirts, Fang said quietly, "That's far enough."

I motioned Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel into the closest alleyway. Angel hadn't spoken the entire the time, only stopping staring out into space to glower at me. I hoped it would stay that way until we were relatively safe again.

Iggy paused before walking past me to say, "Doesn't everything bad happen in alleys?"

Of course, he was right.

After Fang and I walked after them into the dark alleyway, we searched for a good place to hole up. At the end of the alley was a slab of pavement and a mesh fence that led to a movie theater. A near-invisible ladder led to the roof.

Motioning the flock up the rungs, I glanced around in case any enemy was hidden in the shadows of the alley.

I froze. "Guys?"

Our pursuers emerged from the shadows.


	7. Confrontation, Sort of

**Chapter 7: Confrontation, Sort of**

You want to know something strange? I didn't panic. By not panicking, I mean not kicking their heads in. I stood unmoving as the four dark-haired boys strolled out of the shadowy alleyway. They appeared fine, despite being ruffled, and they seemed to be over the Gasman's gas, although the stench still lingered. I noticed that the woman, Opal, was not with them. Perhaps they were not accomplices.

I wasn't going to stick around to find out.

"U and A!" I hollered, springing up in the air, straight onto the roof of the movie theater.

"Calm down!" one of the boys shouted, making the universal gesture to match his words. "We just…." He looked like he didn't know how to continue in a non-incriminating way.

"We just want to ask a few questions," rescued another of them.

The flock and I glared down at them from the roof. Fang had pulled up the ladder.

"Yeah, well, we've got a few questions for you," I snarled. "First off, who _are_ you?"

The dark-haired teenagers glanced at each other. They didn't want to answer. Their ages were from about sixteen to nineteen, I noted. In the brighter light, I could see something that made each different.

One had brown eyes.

Another had bright green.

The third one had turquoise, like the sea.

The last had dark blue, piercing.

"We are… not normal," one said slowly, "but neither are you."

Give the guy a prize.

"I think we've figured that out," I said dryly. "Give me a valid reason not to drop kick you all the way to Idaho, and maybe we'll stick around to answer your questions."

The boys glanced at each other again. Finally, the tallest said, "Okay. But not here. Who knows what's lurking in the oversized pizza box?" He grinned, pointing to a nearby trashcan, but I ignored the poor attempt at humor.

"We are not following you anywhere," I deadpanned.

The boy nodded understandingly. "That may be true," He began.

"It is."

"But," he continued, "there is no other way for us to tell you what you want to know. Besides," he said, looking at each of us, "we can't leave you alone until we know that you won't go spilling what happened in the tunnels all over the Internet."

"Why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "What could we post about this that would make some random people care?"

"We are not 'some random people,'" one of the boys sighed. "When you decide to come to a secure location with us, you will find out exactly how deliberate our arrival was."

"Right. I suppose you'll tell us why you've got wands? Or maybe why that sparkly lady who looked like she was shot right out of a Disney movie wanted to control us? I doubt it, but will you tell us _what the heck is in that freaking suitcase?_ " I realized that they had actually brought the baggage with them. The one who had just spoken was holding it tightly.

"Just one wand," he said softly. "And Opal is looking for humans to do her dirty work – attaining our belongings." He waved a hand at his companions. "We are, I assure you, doing something entirely benefiting to the world. But we will start at the beginning in the proper place."

They waited for my volleying statement. I stared back calmly, but my mind was doing cartwheels. The boy had said something odd – " _humans_." I knew the flock had heard it, too.

"So, you're not human?" Gazzy inquired distrustfully, peering over the edge of the roof. "You're not, like, Erasers or something?" He glanced at the pale boy holding the suitcase. "Or vampires?"

Impatiently shuffling his feet, one of the other teenagers said, "No. You know what? We'll tell you _some_ stuff." He looked around nervously. "Then, and only then, you can decide if you want to come."

There was a pause. "Fine," I growled.

They dove right in. "To start, Opal is a pixie," began one boy calmly. "She is against us, trying to steal what we have worked hard to create. Mind power comes with being one of the People, but she has… changed over the years. Let's just say that she is back to what she was years ago."

"And the wand," another teenager broke in, "is mine. Don't expect me to explain further."

I stared down from the roof at the four boys. My first thought was: _what the – why should I believe that?_ Then I realized that there must have been stranger things out there besides mutant winged freaks.

"Well?" the brown-eyed boy prompted. I realized we must've been frozen still. "What about you?"

"Wha?" I said, my jaw snapping shut.

"The wings," he said, obviously hoping I'd get the drift.

Oh. "We… were an experiment."

This caught one boy's attention. "Whose?"

"…Scientists."

The boy raised an eyebrow, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "In California?"

"No," I lied. They didn't have to know everything.

The boy shrugged, but I could tell he was still speculating. Hurriedly changing the subject, I added, "What about the suitcase?"

The teenagers did not answer. Gazzy shifted uncomfortably next to me.

Finally, one said, "Follow us."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Fang stopped me. "Just go along."

"Why?" I whispered back indignantly.

"See what happens." Fang unfolded his huge dark wings and leaped effortlessly to the ground. The boys gaped at him.

One by one, the rest of the flock joined him. I was the only one left on the roof.

"Coming?" one of the boys asked, clearly eager to see what _my_ wings looked like.

I hesitated. It was definitely, most certainly a trap. But…"Okay." I extended my tan-colored wings, feeling the breeze against my feathers, and jumped to the ground.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm sorry, but the "brown-eyed" book character has no real appearance that I could find, so I sort of molded it to my needs. As I said before,** **you don't have to know him or the others** **, as long as you know Artemis and the Maximum Ride series. I'm also sorry if the characters are OOC. Bring that up with me in a review.**

 **And when will we know all?**

 **Soon, dear reader. Soon.**


	8. The Time Association

**Hey! So this is where a lot is revealed. I thought this was a pretty hard chapter to write because there was so much dialogue. If I forgot to answer any questions in the story, let me know in a review.  
**

 **Chapter 8: The Time Association**

We walked about a block before the four guys turned into another alley. The flock hesitated, and I saw Nudge and Gazzy glance at each other. But we followed.

The guy with the wand walked up to the wall. As I watched, he pulled out the wand and muttered something that sounded like well-chosen gibberish.

My eyes almost popped out of my head. The wall melted away.

In its place, a door appeared. The four teenagers entered like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Something clicked in my brain concerning the guy with the wand. I dismissed it.

Noticing us standing dumbstruck outside, one boy smirked. "You coming?"

I blinked. "We're not going inside a magic house," I said.

"It's an apartment," the boy replied. He turned around and disappeared inside.

"Well?" Iggy said.

I shook my head. "No way. Absolutely not."

Turning big blue eyes on me, Angel spoke for the first time since the subway tunnels, apparently done sulking. "Go in."

 _Why should I listen to you?_ I snarled inside my head, glaring at her.

"Because I know what they're thinking," she replied aloud. "They aren't like Opal Koboi. They have ideas that you would be interested in."

"Yeah, and you mind-chatted with Opal," I said angrily. "You found out her _last name_!"

Angel gave me a look that made my blood boil. "Just trust me." She put on an innocent face.

 _Gah._ I scowled at her. "Fine. Lead the way, Angel." I made sure she got a much less nice message from my thoughts.

Angel beamed at me and skipped into the magical apartment. "Thanks, Max!"

I face-palmed, and Fang gave me a pitying look. The flock trailed inside after her.

The apartment was insanely run down. Cracks lined corners of the room, and peeling paint was everywhere. There were plush chairs and a coffee table in the center of the room, and a tiny kitchen was situated in the corner of the room. There were windows with light streaming through, but I was pretty sure they were magical – how can you see outside from inside a wall? The only other room must have been upstairs, because there was only one other door in the apartment besides the entrance. A cracked, old-fashioned lamp stood on a corner table.

Overall, I didn't get the impression of a top-secret group. More like these four boys were living on the run or something.

"Glad to see you've finally decided to join us." The dark blue-eyed boy glanced up from his seat in one of the plush chairs.

I ignored him. "Are you ready to explain why the heck magic is real?"

The boy stared at me expressionlessly. It was unnerving. "You are what age?" he said at last. "Sixteen?"

I decided on lying. As bird-kids, we generally looked older than we were. "Yes."

The boy thought for a moment. "So you are the appointed leader of your… group?" He indicated the flock.

"Yes," I responded.

"May we speak to you alone, then?" he asked. "It is terribly hard for younger kids to digest the information we will tell you." He didn't even glance at Angel, Gazzy, or Nudge.

I clenched my fists but replied, "Only if the flock stays in the house."

The boy nodded and gestured to the only other door in the room.

Fang leaned over to me and whispered, barely audible, "I'll listen through the door." He and Iggy led the kids to where the boy showed them to go; they opened the door and climbed the stairs upward.

"How'd you get magic?" I started as soon as the door had closed.

The boy sighed. "That is too complicated a question. Please."

I thought about what to ask. "Is there only four of you?" I inquired.

"No. We have friends." The boy crossed his legs.

"Who are you? _What_ are you?"

The boy did not answer the first question. "I am human."

I narrowed my eyes. "The others?"

"Well," he said, "that is a matter we should not discuss."

"You said you'd answer my questions," I said accusingly.

The boy shrugged. "It depends."

"Where even are your buddies?" I asked, reclining in the plush chair while keeping my guard.

"They are in the bedrooms."

So there were bedrooms upstairs. "Where's the suitcase?" I asked.

This was apparently the topic that the boy had been waiting for. "Upstairs," he said again. "Do you want to know what is _in_ the suitcase?"

"Yes," I said, "and also why it's so important."

"Okay," he said. He began to explain. "We call ourselves the Time Association. Do you want to know why?" He didn't wait for my answer. "We have combined what we know about time travel – yes, it is real – so that we may be able to reverse terrible things in time." He looked hard at me. "Such as the apocalypse."

"Yeah, right," I said sarcastically. "And how many apocalypses did you stop?"

I hadn't been expecting a number. The guy answered, "Twelve."

There was a pause.

"Time travel," I said at last. "What I would do for that."

"Exactly," said the boy. "That is why Opal was after us. She wants the suitcase. Containing all our notes and research, it has unimaginable power."

I remembered what the teenagers had said back by the movie theater. "But if Opal is a fairy or whatever, couldn't she just take that suitcase herself? Why did she need our help?"

"We put spells on it," the boy replied. "Powerful ones. But Opal is ruthless. To her, humans are expendable. She was going to use you to try and get the suitcase. If you burst into flames on contact, she would just try again. She wants the ability to control time." He glanced at the door leading outside. "She is not our only enemy."

I tried to swallow this information. We could have died a fiery death? I shook my head. There was nothing I could think to ask that would sum up my questions except "How?"

The boy shrugged. "As I said, it is too complicated. You are welcome to stay the night, if you wish to know more."

I raised an eyebrow. "I still don't trust you."

"I return that sentiment. Anyway, you would have to sleep here. We only have a certain amount of bedrooms." He patted his plush chair.

I deliberated for a moment. "Maybe." I hesitated. "And by the way, how did you know about the lab in California?"

He almost smiled. "You declared earlier that I was wrong about that assumption. I know about these things."

I didn't speak. The guy got up from his chair. "Tell us what you decide to do." He went upstairs.

I sat for a moment. Magical pixies and unknown enemies. A suitcase that carries time travel magic. A group that uses it to stop disasters. The Time Association.

I got up from the comfortable plush chair. "Time" to consult the flock. (Get it? I crack myself up.)


	9. The Flock Lives

**Chapter 9: The Flock Lives**

The Gasman slumped down on the bottom step of the carpeted stairs. The flock was gathered around in the cramped stairwell, staring at the closed door leading to the main room. Gazzy couldn't see why they had to leave the room – how bizarre could the conversation be to make them have to leave? He couldn't hear anything besides muffled speaking coming from behind the door. Fang was leaning against it, obviously listening. As Gazzy watched, his eyes grew steadily wider and wider.

Finally, when Nudge was beginning to shift from foot to foot impatiently, Fang moved away from the door. "They're coming," he said softly.

His eyes were still a millimeter wider than normal. For Fang, this meant he was flabbergasted. Gazzy wondered what he had heard.

Footsteps emanated from behind the door, and it swung open. The flock shuffled backwards to leave room.

"Your… ah… _leader_ has gone out to think," the blue-eyed guy said from the doorway.

Gazzy craned his neck to see the inside of the room. Max was not there.

The flock did not respond. The teenager moved on. "If you wish, you may join my companions upstairs to answer any questions you might have." He nodded up the flight of stairs.

"Question already," Iggy said, raising his hand mockingly. "Who even are you?"

"Upstairs," repeated the teenager. He waited patiently for them to move up the staircase.

 _I know who he is,_ a voice whispered in Gazzy's mind. He jumped in surprise. Angel was staring at him intently.

 _Who?_ he beamed at her.

 _Wait,_ she mind-spoke. _Wait until Max is back. She has to know first. Then I can take the lead._

What? "Angel –" Gazzy began, but then he noticed everyone looking at him. Including the guy who had talked to Max. Apparently Gazzy's and Angel's mental chat had shown on their faces. Gazzy muttered something as an excuse.

The teenage boy still seemed suspiciously interested, though.

"Hmm," he said.

He might have said more, except Fang suddenly stated, "Upstairs. We'll check it out."

Gazzy and Nudge gave him quizzical looks, but he squeezed past them, up the stairs. The rest of the flock had no real choice but to follow.

The second floor of the magical apartment was small, but it had eight bedrooms and a bathroom tightly packed into the hallway. Gazzy followed the rest of the flock into the only occupied bedroom.

There was a queen-size bed with cream-colored sheets inside the room. The peeling wallpaper was striped dark blue. A dresser, an armoire, and a wooden stool were the only other things in the room.

The three other guys were in this room, two on the bed and one on the stool, apparently playing a game of cards. When they saw their visitors, they stood up hurriedly. One guy cleared his throat. They looked at the flock expectantly.

"The device." Fang's voice was flat. "Prove that it's real."

Gazzy didn't know what Fang meant, but the teenagers seemed to. The tallest said, "You listened at the door."

Fang didn't comment.

The guys glanced at each other. The room was silent.

Finally, the teen with sea-green eyes sighed. "It's right here." He reached down and pulled out the suitcase from under the bed.


	10. What Turns Time

**Hello. More to come, much more.**

 **Chapter 10: What Turns Time**

I was going to talk with the flock, but first I decided to clear my head and get some air. This allowed me to scope out exactly where the magical apartment was located in New York. I also was able to get some lunch, or whatever meal we were at.

The hot city air did little to calm my nerves. I stretched my wings, feeling the heavy, carbon dioxide-laden breeze slipping through my feathers. The outskirts of NYC extended below me in various shades of ick, yuck, and blech.

So what to do? I could figure things out and possibly get something out of it, or I could get the flock and hit the road. I pondered this. There really was no option.

Because if the four members of the Time Association had a time machine free of any risk, used specifically for fixing catastrophes, I had to get it somehow. The apocalypse would be a whole lot easier to stop if I could fix mistakes after I made them.

So we had to stay. At least for a couple more hours. And I had a question for Angel.

Tilting my wings like the great hawks we once watched, I soared back to the apartment. The door was gone, leaving a blank brick alley wall. I didn't know what to do, so, feeling stupid, I knocked on it.

The door materialized immediately. The boy who I had talked to earlier greeted me wordlessly and beckoned me inside.

"What's up?" I asked, folding my wings in tight to fit through the doorway as I entered.

"Well –" he started, but Gazzy interrupted him, catapulting himself on top of me.

"Max! Guess what?" he said excitedly.

Nudge broke in with a squeal, popping up beside him. "There's this thing that they showed us, and guess what it looks like?"

She probably would've said more, except the dark-haired guy, still by the door, interjected, "We have more matters to discuss."

I rounded on him. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

He didn't quail under my glare. "What exactly you are."

I blinked. That was direct. "Well, we're human," I started, knowing what he meant but unable to say it.

He didn't react, just sat down on the couch. "Give me the shorthand version, if you must," he said. "Just do not leave anything out."

The statement itself was so contradictory I almost laughed. "Fine," I said. And I unfolded my wings a bit.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the three other boys, the rest of the Time Association, gaping from the stairs.

Not wasting any time, I continued, "So, mutants. Wings, other abilities I'm not about to tell you. Yes, a lab in California. People trying to kill us every other day. There's your shorthand version."

I folded my wings again. A silence followed with the boys and the flock staring at me.

"Well," said one of the guys from the stairwell. An understatement of epic proportions.

"Max," said Iggy, "why the heck?"

Why did I just do that? "Because I want answers," I snapped. "And it seems the only way to get them is to give them."

"Thank you," said the blue-eyed boy, ignoring the tension.

"Max," Gazzy said suddenly, remembering his excitement from before. "These guys showed us something pretty cool."

I wasn't in the mood, but Nudge continued for him, "It was like that thing from Harry Potter, you know, the spinning one? With the hourglass inside? Anyway, it was inside that suitcase with a bunch of other stuff."

I noticed the green-eyed guy sort of duck down at this, but there couldn't have been a reason for it.

"That's great, Nudge," I sighed. I turned to the rest of the room's occupants. "So what's that time machine thing?"

"Um," said one of the guys, "that's it."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"The thing. It's that."

"But… isn't the thing from Harry Potter a time machine too?" I knew what it meant, somewhere in my mind, but it was too fantastical to even imagine.

 _Max._ It was Angel. _You know what it is. Say it._

I flashed back in my mind to when that same guy had held out a wooden stick, a wand. "That's crazy!" I hissed under my breath, hoping no one else could hear me.

 _Max. It is Harry Potter._ "Are you Harry Potter?" she asked aloud sweetly.

The boy cringed. "I honestly wish I weren't famous," he said. "But yeah."

Everyone blinked.

"Huh?" Iggy said.

Even though it completely made sense somehow, I refused to believe it. "But that's a work of fiction. There's an author."

The guy shrugged. "She's a rogue member of the wizarding world."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I'm supposed to believe that," I said.

"He really is? Harry Potter?" Nudge's eyes were wide. She examined him head to toe. "He doesn't look much like the actor, does he?" she commented.

"Wow! You're kidding, right?" Gazzy said.

I gritted my teeth and rolled my eyes. I was surrounded by a caravan of nutjobs.

The conversation was cut short by the blue-eyed boy. "I believe it is time for a break." He nodded at me. "Would you like to see the device?"

"Fine," I snarled. "Show me the Harry Potter thing."

"It's not just a 'Harry Potter thing'," he replied irritably. "We all contributed to its creation. You see, every method of time travel has its costs. We came together to create the one way where there is no side effects to time travel. We each contributed to its construction."

I shrugged. "Whatever."

He led me upstairs. It was a small floor with loads of bedrooms. The leather suitcase was seated on the bed of one room.

The boy opened it. Inside was a bunch of papers, notes, a laptop, and a box. He opened the box.

The object that lay inside was not large at all. It looked like a gyroscope (I only know what one of those is because Gazzy and Iggy used it for a bomb once) with an hourglass embedded in the center.

"Naturally, we have dozens of spells and magic protecting it from anyone else," commented the boy casually, catching the look in my eye.

"Naturally." Just as much insincerity.

The guy put the object back into the box and shut the suitcase. "Would you like lunch?" he asked.

"Not from you, I wouldn't," I replied, turning on my heel out of the bedroom.

 **A/N:**

 **So, Harry Potter. Don't worry if you've never read it. As long as you know who he is, you're golden.**

 **More names to be revealed (except you obviously know Artemis Fowl already – this is in that section).**


	11. We Shall See

**What? We** ** _shall_** **see! And I swear, you don't need to know squat about the books. Still don't believe me?**

 **But as I said...**

 **Chapter 11: We Shall See...**

When I got downstairs, the flock was hooked on a tiny TV set against the wall of the room. So much for Harry Potter. The guy who claimed to be him was in the connected kitchen, eating lunch with the other two.

Fang met me when I stepped out of the stairwell. He looked at me, and I could tell from his dark eyes that he wanted to chat.

I stepped around him and cleared my throat loudly, getting the attention of the three members of the Time Association. "Excuse me, but I think I will step out for a bit."

They shrugged, and the turquoise-eyed boy said, "Have fun."

I led Fang out the door. The magic sealed it up as we walked away.

"Max." He wanted to get right to the point.

"Yes?" I said, smirking.

Fang crossed his arms. "Is it real?" Oh, right. He had listened at the door before.

I shrugged out my wings. "I don't know about real. If you're asking if the conversation really happened, I'm pretty sure."

"Max. You know that it's crazy." His dark eyes bored into mine.

"Yes," I replied. "I know." With that, I took to the air.

He followed after me, shadowy wings spread wide. We soared over the town for a while, then dropped down in a fast food restaurant for some burgers. What would America do without greasy, deep-fried fat food?

When we made it back, the flock was spread out on the chairs, asleep, exactly as we left them, except…

"Why the heck do they have _plates?_ " I said disbelievingly.

The three guys of the Time Association popped up from the kitchen counter, looking incredibly worn out. "They eat like horses," the supposed Harry Potter said, grinning.

" _You fed them?_ " I exploded.

He stopped smiling. "Well, yeah. What?"

My outburst awoke Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, and Angel. "Uhh," said Gazzy groggily. "Max?"

I rounded on them. "And since when do you accept food from complete _strangers_?" And sleep near them?

"Sorry," said Nudge meekly, shaking the sleep from her eyes. "We were hungry."

Unbelievable. I sighed and glared at the ceiling. "You'd better not have food poisoning."

The three time travelers glanced at each other. I almost felt bad. They had no idea what was going on.

Just then, the fourth member of their group came downstairs. "Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, nodding at me. "How are you?"

I fought the urge to strangle him. " _How am I?_ Really? Didn't I tell you that we wouldn't be eating here?" I snarled.

He did not even blink. "No, actually. If I recall correctly, you said that _you yourself_ would not be dining with us. Not," he waved a hand at the others, "you _all_."

I practically growled at that. "You haven't even told us your names, for goodness sake! Why on earth should we trust your food?"

He met my glare evenly. "Wait and see if your family drops dead. I highly doubt that will be the case."

I clenched my teeth so hard I thought they would break. "Whatever." Then I just plopped down on an empty plush chair, trying to ignore him.

"Wow," said the brown-eyed boy from the attached kitchen. "She's got _quite_ a temper."

Fang nodded. "Try living with her."

I nearly lost it on him, but just then, something distracted me.

 _You want to know the other boys' names,_ Angel said in my mind.

That was out of the blue. But yeah, I did. And the Harry Potter-impersonator's.

With a touch of annoyance, Angel continued, _He_ is _Harry Potter. I told you._

 _Riiight_. She wasn't going to convince me no matter what, so I told her to move on.

 _The one with the sea-colored eyes is named Percy. Sound familiar?_

No. It did not. At all.

 _Percy Jackson. Remember, Nudge watched the movie last fall?_

I frowned. I did remember. It was something about mythology. A boy with magical water powers. The most insane plot ever invented. Honestly. But that character being real was almost less believable than Harry Potter.

 _Ma-ax,_ she sighed in exasperation. _I won't make you accept it. But really. Think about it._

Nope. Even so, I glanced at the guy. He was in the kitchen, speaking to "Harry Potter."

Angel sighed aloud, drawing a glance from the flock around her. I knew she was disappointed with me. But I didn't care; it was stupid having a six-year-old be smarter than me.

Maybe a part of me accepted what she had gained from her mind reading. But not a big part.

 _Would you like to hear about the others?_ Angel whispered in my mind after a few minutes of silence watching television.

I was tempted to turn her down in resentment, but I knew that would hardly help matters.

 _Good,_ she thought at me, a hint of smugness in her voice. _Max, the brown-eyed guy is named Jacob Portman. Do you know who he is?_

That one stumped me. I had no clue.

 _Neither did I until now. He is peculiar, let's just say that._

Whatever that meant, I doubted Angel would tell. She obviously knew everything about all of them, but my lack of compliance made her not share the information.

But what about the boy with the dark blue eyes? The one who really got on my nerves?

Angel was about to answer, but at that moment, the topic of our mental conversation said, "I do believe it is time to set up the rooms." He motioned to the one called Jacob. "Call our other faction. Let them know about the recent developments."

Somehow I had a feeling the _recent developments_ included us.

He headed upstairs with "Percy" and "Harry." Jacob stayed in the kitchen to use the landline.

 _Landline_. How old _was_ this place, anyway?

Since the tiny kitchen was connected directly to the living room in an open concept style, the flock had the fortune of hearing the entire conversation.

"Hello, H –" he started, but quickly stopped speaking. A presumably loud voice emanated from the phone. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized. A pause. "Yeah, we do." This was proceeded by a summarized account of the day's events. I resisted the urge to run out of there right then when he mentioned us. Finally, Jacob finished, "Got it," and hung up.

He regarded the flock spread out on the plush chairs. "Well, I'll be up there," he said, walking upstairs to join the other three.

We sat in silence, each of us thinking something different.

Iggy reached for the remote and turned off the TV which was still showing colorful cartoons. "This is crazy, you know."

"What is, watching TV?" Nudge asked, confused.

"No," he said, irritated. "Although for me, _absolutely_." He scowled at her, then returned to the topic at hand. "But I mean, since when are movie characters real?"

I realized with a start that Angel must have had the same mind conversation with them that she had with me.

"They were books first," Fang mentioned casually.

"Nobody cares," I spat at him. I was not forgiving him from his earlier comment that easily.

The rest of the flock ignored me. "But, guys," said Gazzy, "so much has happened so far. Why should this make less sense?"

I stared at him, and then at Angel, who was wearing an _I-told-you-so_ look on her innocent face. I gritted my teeth.

"Fine. It might _possibly_ be true."

 **A/N:**

 **So Max is in denial, sort of. Typical of her.**

 **I just want you readers to be all annoyed that Max still doesn't know Artemis's name. Soon, I promise.**

 **And "H-" is not important. Just Captain Holly Short. Yep, she and other characters are there; I just don't know if I will bring them into it. Probably not.**


	12. Absolute Sanity

**So, this chapter I actually planned before I even started putting the story down in words... I think it's cute. In a good way, of course. No real plot development, I guess, but that is to come.**

 **Chapter 12: Absolute Sanity**

My flock spent the rest of the hour in silence, playing cards or other stuff. I did not join them.

The prospect of real, live fiction was too much to process. But of course I had to deal with it.

As I sat in the plush chair in thought, the sound of a door swinging open startled the flock and me into glancing up. The turquoise-eyed boy was casually coming out of the stairwell. Percy Jackson, if I was going to rely on Angel's mind reading skills.

Upon noticing us gaping at him, he said defensively, "What? I live here; I'm allowed to come downstairs."

Silence. He uncomfortably ignored us, taking a seat in the widest chair. Maybe a short couch. I noticed he was carrying none other than the suitcase that housed the magical time-travel device. As I watched, he put his feet up on the coffee table and snapped open the case.

I held my breath. What was he doing?

There had been more than just the time machine inside the suitcase when I'd seen it. Papers. A laptop. The leather lid of the suitcase hid the contents at the moment, though. Percy lifted something large out. Was he going to travel in time or something? He closed the lid.

He had brought out the laptop. I stared at him along with the rest of the flock. You could hear a metaphorical pin drop.

Percy, without glancing at us again, unceremoniously opened the laptop. He began to type, a blue glow from the screen cast over his face.

And he typed. And typed.

Eventually, I couldn't stand the suspense. "What sort of supernatural things are you doing on there?"

He looked up at last, noticed everyone staring at him, and rolled his eyes. "I'm writing."

"A super-secret document on time travel?"

He looked at me like I was bonkers. "No. A book."

"What sort of book?" Nudge asked enthusiastically.

"…A book about mythology?" he replied quizzically.

"Does it have anything to do with time travel?" I persisted.

"Not particularly."

I was thrown. Stupefied. "Then why keep it in the secret suitcase?" I asked, folding my arms.

He stared at me. "I just want to write a book," he said slowly, "and carry it around with me. Completely legit."

I blinked. I was pretty sure the rest of the flock did too. "…Okay."

Percy rolled his eyes again. I ground my teeth.

"Whatever. I'm getting a snack." He pushed the laptop to the side and headed into the kitchen, switching on the overhead light.

The three other boys came downstairs at that moment, mostly looking happy. I remembered that I still didn't know the last one's name.

"Good evening, winged people," he said. Coming from anyone else, it would've sounded insulting. From him, it was simply a statement of fact.

"How old are you?" Nudge asked them suddenly. I looked to see why she was asking, and saw the cartoon characters on the TV screen, who were celebrating a birthday.

"Seventeen," grunted Jacob.

"Same," said Harry Potter.

"Same here, give or take," added Percy from the kitchen.

The last guy didn't answer.

"And you?" I prompted. So what if Nudge's was a random question. Why shouldn't he answer it?

"It depends on how you look at it," he replied finally.

"Huh?" This was said by everyone in the flock in perfect unison, a real Kodak moment. If you think about that stuff.

He shrugged, for the first time avoiding my glare. "I could be fifteen, eighteen, or six months. It depends on your viewpoint."

Okay… "Whatever." I decided there were some things I shouldn't even try to understand.

Nudge didn't seem to care anymore. "Let's watch more TV," she said, upping the volume with the remote. The members of the Time Association went into the adjoined kitchen.

"Are we staying here overnight?" Iggy asked, reclining in his plushy chair.

"No," I responded forcefully.

"I think we should," Angel said softly, looking down.

"Oh, yeah? Well, forgive me if I don't trust your judgement right now," I grumbled.

The sound of background talking made me abandon the conversation.

The Time Association was congregated in the kitchen, chatting about dinner during our conversation. I cut them short with "We are going to McDonald's for dinner. No discussion."

Jacob and Percy shrugged. Harry dropped the pan he had been planning to cook with back on the stove.

"If it pleases you, then we will go out to eat," said the blue-eyed one. "But… no McDonald's, please. I cannot stand the taste."

I shook my head, putting my foot down in the figurative sense. "Not this time. We are going to a fast food restaurant, and _everyone's_ going to like it."

He sighed. I could tell he knew that I'd drawn the line. "All right then. But do not expect me to eat a _hamburger_." He said the word as if he'd been speaking of eating snot.

The others smiled, and Percy said, "I know a way to get you to eat one."

The boy gave him a flat look. " _Let's go_." He put the suitcase upstairs, leaving the laptop on the sofa, and rejoined us without a word.

Stifling laughter, I ushered the flock out the door before me. I could clearly hear Gazzy's stomach grumbling, and I grinned. Turning to Harry, Percy, Jacob, and the one who remained nameless, I said casually, "Ever wonder about that stink bomb back in the subway tunnel?"

They glanced at each other. "A bit," said Jacob slowly.

I smirked and motioned to Gazzy. He glanced at me, then at them, and smiled like the maniac kid he was. "It was completely natural," he said simply.

Enjoying the look of dawning horror on their faces, I led the way out the magical door.

 **A/N:**

 **The book that Percy Jackson is writing is a real book. Percy Jackson's Greek Gods. Good stuff.**

 **And Artemis's confusing conversation about his age... Fans,** ** _you_** **know. His birthday was eighteen years ago. But he lived for fifteen years. And his current body is technically not even a year old. Too complicated for NORMAL people to understand! ;)**


	13. There Will Be Questions

**This definitely will leave you on a cliffhanger! Hehehe...**

 **Chapter 13: There Will Be Questions**

We ate at the nearest McDonald's, and man, the Time Association was _shocked_ by how much we ordered! Two burgers, four hotdogs, eight servings of French fries, and a double chocolate milkshake. And that was just for me.

Since they weren't expecting it, they hadn't brought enough money. I had to use my handy-dandy bank card to pay for the food.

When we got back to the magical apartment, Jacob, Harry, and Percy dropped into the plush chairs and began playing a card game. As Angel joined them, I fought back a grin. The poor chumps. Angel would beat them in seconds.

Then again, they didn't know about our other abilities. It was probably best to keep it that way.

The fourth member of their little group went directly upstairs once we had arrived. I remembered that I still didn't know his name.

I realized something else. They didn't know we knew their names.

That could be a problem. If one of the flock said their name by accident, they would want to know how we knew. I sent a mental message to Angel, hoping she would pick up on it.

She glanced up from the card game, nodded once, and appeared to concentrate. I sighed with relief, but now there were bigger fish to fry.

Getting up from my seat, I edged backwards until I was in the stairwell. Nobody noticed me leave.

I had to see the time machine again. This time, to see if it worked.

And there was only one way to do that.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor, which was completely empty except for the last guy. I didn't know where he was, and I didn't want to find out. As carefully as possible, I walked into the far bedroom where I had first seen the object inside the suitcase. The boy most likely put it back where it had been before.

But where was that? I hadn't seen him take it out from anywhere. He had done that when the flock was up here. And it wasn't like it was under the bed.

I surveyed the room, remembering what he'd said. _"Naturally, we have dozens of spells and magic protecting it from anyone else."_ Would I burst into flames if I found the suitcase?

No time for that. I patted down the bed, feeling for the hidden object. Was it even in the room? I checked the closet, even looking for the ever clichéd secret doors. Nothing.

Behind a painting? Nope. Under the rug? Actually impossible. Inside the dresser? Please.

What if magic was hiding it? I wouldn't have a chance at finding it then.

Banishing my doubts, I viewed the room again. I was missing something. I'd checked all the obvious spots and the crazy places. But….

 _Under the bed_. The stupidest hiding place ever. But they were already in a secure place, loaded with magic spells, if I believed them. So why not?

Kneeling down, I reached under the bed, bringing out mounds of dust bunnies.

And the tattered leather case.

I resisted the urge to whoop. Instead, I dragged it from under the bed. Was the time machine authentic? How could it be? How could it _not_ be?

I hesitated. Was it my imagination, or were red flashes going off around its surface? I might have been about to get blasted by enchantments.

I reached for the clasps on the suitcase.

"Excuse me; I do not believe this was included in your voiced plans for today."

I shot up like a firecracker. "What the heck?" I snarled, whirling around.

The blue-eyed boy was standing behind me. He looked perfectly calm, but there was an air of displeasure about him. "I would have thought that you would know not to sneak around, Maximum."

It took me almost a second to realize what he'd said. "Wait – how do you know my name?"

He glanced at the ceiling in an eye-roll sort of way. "I did my research," he said.

This made me have to ask another question. "What is _your_ name?"

The boy stared at me. "You were sneaking around in places where you shouldn't have been, and you think I would reveal _that_ to you?"

I gritted my teeth. "Fine. But why I'm here…" I plopped down on the bed. "I need –"

"Proof. You want proof." He nodded, still neither smiling nor frowning. "It is not perfected, you understand? The time machine we created still has flaws. The point of all this, you see, is to create something with which to travel in time that has no drawbacks. I have traveled in time before, as have most of my companions, but each method we used was different. With this, we combined our magic into something that can be used for solving problems." He looked at me intensely. "It took one of our members some convincing to do, however. I had to explain to him how it would benefit the world instead of destroy it."

I gaped at the blue-eyed boy. He just stood there.

"But… but how on earth is it real?" I managed.

He shrugged, sighing. "Honestly, I have no idea."

"You can't expect me to believe that that device is a real time machine." I crossed my arms. I wasn't very convincing, and he knew it.

"Believe what you want to believe. I certainly won't care."

At that moment, a scream pierced the air from downstairs.


	14. In Need of Chocolate

**I recommend rereading the last chapter so you can remember where we left off. One or two more chapters left! I feel so nostalgic!**

 **And, by the way, I sincerely hope it is easy to understand the characters you are not familiar with. I cannot stress that enough. Please tell me if it is hard.**

 **Chapter 14: In Need of Chocolate**

We stood, frozen, as the shriek continued. It did not stop or waver in the slightest. My heart stopped.

 _It was Angel's voice._

And unlike any sound I'd ever heard her make. It was one earsplitting scream.

Something was terribly wrong.

The blue-eyed boy and I did not even glance at each other; we raced downstairs as fast as we could. Being much faster, I flew down the stairwell and shoved the door open first.

The cards were strewn on the coffee table as they had been before when everyone had been playing cards. Except now there was terror on everyone's faces.

Angel's scream didn't stop. She was bone pale, staring at something by the front door. I looked but couldn't see anything in the dark. For some reason, the lamp had gone out.

"Did you do something to her?" I roared at the blue-eyed boy.

He shook his head, composure slipping.

There was only one thing to do. I ran into the room and scooped up Angel.

She stopped screaming immediately and fell unconscious.

There was a ringing silence. And it wasn't a relieved one. I shivered. Had the room suddenly dropped a few degrees?

 _Cages. Experiments. Needles. The school._

I shut down my mind. What was happening?

Something was in the room. The flock, Jacob, Harry, and Percy were pressing themselves against the far wall in fear. I could feel it too. Immense misery.

"Who's there?" Probably a stupid question, but I couldn't see anything.

"Max," Fang said, barely audible. "It's not human."

"What?" I asked, breaking my concentration from the far side of the room.

"It's a monster."

How he knew, I had no clue.

Guessing my thoughts, he added, "Harry Potter here told us."

I raised an eyebrow. Glancing at the dark end of the room, I said to Harry, "Explain. Make it quick."

He took a shaky breath. "Dementor. Sent here by someone. Suck the happiness out of everyone. I don't have my wand; it's upstairs."

I rolled my eyes. "Great. A magical creature from a fictional world that's a killjoy. What else is new?"

He shushed me. "Stop it. Think happy thoughts."

"I've got none," I retorted. But he was right. The Demented, or whatever, was definitely making me feel bitter. But why did it matter? There was no point in doing anything. The scientists…

I mentally slapped myself. Looking at Angel in my arms strengthened my resolve. "So do something."

If someone could have replied, the words would have died in their throat, for at that moment, the movie monster slid from the shadows. It was like a floating cloak, and the air suddenly grew a thousand times colder.

"You know what?" I said shakily without breaking my gaze. "I think I believe that you're Harry Potter now."

"Took you long enough," he said, launching himself across the room.

The Dementor seemed to actually draw in his life as he dashed past. Struggling, he made it to the stairwell and darted upstairs.

The Dementor made a low moaning sound as it glided towards the door. Finding it locked, it turned on us.

"…Right." The blue-eyed guy stared at the living nightmare with unmasked fear on his face.

I shook him. "Come on! We've got to… I don't know… _do_ something!"

"Max?" Nudge looked at me with wide eyes. Tears were streaking down her face. "Are we going to die?"

"What? No! Come on, we have to distract that thing!" I shouted.

But the flock was being affected by the Dementor. As it glided forwards, they looked more and more worn out.

Jacob cursed. "It's bringing up bad memories, I think. That's what it does. We have to do something."

I tried to think, but as the Dementor came closer, it became harder to concentrate. My thoughts slid back to terrible things, flashes of light and pain, monsters ripping their prey, killing Ari…

"YAH!" I slammed the proverbial door on my brain and charged forward.

"Max!"

I didn't know who cried out, but, leaving Angel on a chair, I rammed into the Dementor with all the force I had.

I immediately wished I hadn't done that.

It was like flying into a cloud; my sense of direction, up and down, disappeared, and I felt as though I'd plunged into a bucket of ice water. Just as quickly, I came out of it, like it was a ghost or something.

Harry came down the stairs, holding his wand triumphantly. "Got it – oh, no…"

I was sucked into a dark vortex, slowly losing consciousness, and the last thing I saw was a bright, blinding light before I blacked out.

"Max? Are you awake?"

"Somebody throw water on her!"

"Give her chocolate, it'll help…"

"If she passes on simply from that, I will personally file a complaint with the scientists who designed her."

That irritating comment made me open my eyes. "You're an idiot."

The blue-eyed boy seemed amused. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Sitting up, I became aware of the flock also sitting around me. They were all eating chocolate.

"Here, have this," said Harry, handing me some too. When I hesitated, he exclaimed, "Oops! Sorry! I remember, you don't like having food from other people –"

"It's okay," I said, surprising myself. But after all that, they must have been semi-trustworthy.

After fighting that Harry Potter creature… the Dementor!

"What happened to the Dementor?" I asked, glancing around.

Harry waved a hand. "We got rid of it. But wow, you actually attacked it! I've never heard of that before."

I shrugged. Remembering something else, I jumped up, wings fanning out behind me. "Where's Angel?"

"She's over there," said Fang, motioning with his head. Angel was lying on the orange sofa, still asleep.

"Is she okay?" My heart was hammering again.

Fang nodded. Almost immediately, Nudge tackled me in a hug. "Max! That was crazy! I wonder if Hermione Granger is real, too!"

Seeing Harry avoid my gaze, I replied, "Now's not the time for that."

The flock, gathering around, sat on the rug while I faced the Time Association. "Will you tell me your name now?" I asked the blue-eyed boy. Angel was still sleeping; she couldn't tell me.

A pause. Then he nodded. "All right. I am Artemis Fowl the Second." The name sent a chill up my spine. Glancing at his friends, he added, "Would you like to know their names?"

I shrugged with a guilty smile. "I kind of already know."

Artemis Fowl's eyes widened slightly. Jacob, Percy, and Harry almost fell out of their chairs. "How?"

I grinned. " _I did my research._ "

He smiled. "Well said. Any last questions?"

I thought. What else? "…In the subway tunnel, what were you doing there in the first place?"

Percy answered this one. "We had a meeting with our other faction that could only happen in the New York City subway. We were waiting with the disguise of the people around us." He laughed. "But we kind of had to blow them off when Opal found us."

The flock smiled, and Gazzy, Iggy, and Nudge went to clean up their disrupted card game. Fang and I stayed.

"Does the time machine work?" Fang asked unexpectedly.

The Time Association shrugged collectively. "Still working on it," Jacob said.

I thought hard for another question. "What sort of part did each of you have in creating it?"

"I used wizard magic," said Harry, "and the Time Turner." I assumed this was the name of the device.

"I know someone who can manipulate time," Jacob said. He didn't elaborate.

"So do I," said Artemis. "Except he can send people _back_ in time."

We looked at Percy.

He raised his eyebrows. "Isn't it obvious?" he said. "I'm in this because I'm _awesome_."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that's all good. But what if a catastrophe happens and you can't stop it?"

Artemis scowled at me. "Our whole purpose is to stop catastrophes. It is highly unlikely that we won't be able to."

I shrugged. Just then, Angel woke up with a start. She began screaming shrilly again, and we covered our ears, but once she realized what was happening, the scream petered out.

"Max – it was horrible!" she gasped.

I rushed to her side. "Angel?" I said worriedly.

She took some shuddering breaths. "It – it was thinking so many horrible things!"

I patted her sweaty blonde curls. "You're okay, sweetie. We're all okay."

I realized that, with the ability to mind read, Angel probably was affected more by the Dementor than us. I handed her some chocolate.


	15. All Have Survived

**Gosh, this is it: the last chapter. And the epilogue. And, man, it made me sad.  
**

 **Chapter 15: All Have Survived**

Angel accepted the chocolate, and after a few minutes of silent eating, she spoke. "It was just so… scary. Like dog crates and experiments and killing, coming from a single, ruined mind." She hugged me tightly. "Oh, Max. It was awful!"

I stroked her hair, calming her. "It's okay. We're leaving," I said soothingly.

"Leaving?" She blinked. "We can't leave! I have things to do here."

I crossed my arms. "Like what?"

She frowned. "You can't know yet."

I glared at her. "We're leaving," I repeated.

She retreated into a sulky silence.

The Time Association stared at me. "What do you mean, you're leaving?" Percy asked.

"I mean, we don't need to see the time machine in action. And we've stayed long enough as it is – it's almost nighttime," I said. Noticing his slightly dejected expression, I added, "But I sort of almost trust you all now."

He shrugged, smiling a bit. "Good enough."

I motioned for the flock to stand up. "C'mon. Let's go."

Fang was out the magical door first, followed by Nudge, then Iggy, Gazzy, and finally Angel. She smiled sadly at the four boys as she left. I couldn't understand why.

That left me. I turned to go.

"Wait," said the one called Artemis. He seemed like he was about to say something else, but instead he only said, "Goodbye. Do not speak of us again."

I nodded. "Or us."

"Yes. Nothing about avian-human hybrids." He watched me leave.

So the flock was going again. Out to find a new adventure. I almost – okay, a little – felt sentimental.

At that moment, something fast and heavy slammed into me.

"Gah!" I shouted, not expecting the attack. Whatever it was, it was smaller but heavier than me.

The thing went right on attacking me. It was a better fighter than most normal people.

But I was better. Lightning fast, I spun a roundhouse kick into its side. Being not genetically enhanced, the thing gasped and fell down.

What was it? Human was my best guess. But, as I leaned over it, I saw that it could not have been normal. Because the person was getting up again. With broken ribs. But they weren't broken anymore.

A blast of something shot overhead, knocking me to the ground. I found that I could not move. Thoughts spun wildly in my head. Was the flock okay? Had we been set up or something?

"Stop!"

I looked in the far corners of my vision to see who shouted. It was one of the Time Association. Harry.

"Stop!" he said again, and I could see him raising a wand. What was happening?

Suddenly, I was able to move again. I sprung up, glad to see that my flock was still on their feet. But when I moved, I moved like I was in Jell-O. As if time had slowed down…

Harry put his wand away. Everything returned to normal.

"What the heck?" I shouted at him.

Someone else had gotten in his face too. My attacker.

"Are you crazy?" she was saying. "Who are these people? You don't just bring people –"

"Holly," Artemis interrupted. "They are friends of the Association. Do not harm them."

The girl, Holly, looked like she was on fire. Without a word, she stormed past them, into the apartment.

Three other girls were standing to the side, looking entirely ready to fight us. I had to rub my eyes a few times; one had _flames in her hands_ , the next had a wand raised as well – probably Hermione Granger (wow, I really was insane now) – and the last, a grey-eyed girl with a dagger in her hand, just stood there, as though she was about to say something.

The first girl extinguished her flames. Silently, they followed Holly into the house.

"Sorry," said Jacob to us.

"That was our other faction," said Artemis. "It is a pity they did not have time to properly meet you."

I glared at him. "Since when do people come out of nowhere and attack other people?" I snarled.

He shrugged. "I believe it is called 'paranoia'."

I rolled my eyes, but I understood. I'd been paranoid my whole life, and it always saved our butts. It didn't matter about some crazy lunatics, though. We were leaving anyway. "Let's go."

The flock left, Fang in the lead, me in the back. I turned around one last time to see the four dark-haired boys standing in the doorway.

Percy Jackson, with sea-blue eyes.

Harry Potter, with bright green.

Jacob Portman, with brown.

And Artemis Fowl, with dark blue, watching us.

The four members of the Time Association. In their power was a time machine that could change the world forever.

"We'll leave the suitcase under the bed each time we finish using it," called Jacob as we left.

But it didn't really matter. It wasn't like we would need to know.

"Bye!" Nudge and Gazzy chorused.

It was probably my imagination, but the Time Association seemed to smile at that.

As the flock rounded the corner and I made to face forward again, I saw them go inside the magical apartment, and the door disappear into the brick alley wall once again.

. . .

 **Post-Apocalypse**

I picked my way through the rubble. It had to be here somewhere.

Come on, come on…

I was alone. I had told everyone that I was taking a flight. Like, instead of a walk.

There. Something in the broken, crumbing debris.

I bent down and reached, pulling it through. My heart leaped.

The suitcase. Covered in dust, ripped and practically destroyed, but it was unmistakable.

I fingered the broken clasps on the suitcase. Would the enchantments still work?

I didn't pause either way. I opened the case with baited breath.

Nothing happened. It was magic-free, now that the spell-casters…

No time for that. I flipped through the weather-worn pages of information, set aside the damaged laptop, and found it.

The mythical time-travel device.

They had failed. But I could still do something.

But did I want to? I had a life now, the world to myself. I had all of this. But billions of other people hadn't had a chance to. Were all their lives put together more insignificant than mine?

There had been children worrying about nothing more than school; I remembered a girl I had known for a short time a year ago. There had been couples married for the first time, and there had been people just knowing the warmth of a first child.

And before they could register the pain, their lives were over.

But anyway, how could I do anything? I wasn't strong enough to stop asteroids, and if I found out a magical way, there was still the disease.

I had no chance of actually saving the world.

But if there was the slightest possibility, then I'd have to do it.

Maybe I could get the past versions of the Time Association to help. And save them too.

With a racing heart, I spun the time machine's gyroscope. I could write a science fiction book about this later. Sort of mix it in with my real life.

With a flash, the world whirled around me, and I was sucked into the past.

 **A/N:**

 **Wow. I have my first finished fanfiction. And it's** ** _long_** **. I can't believe it is over.** **Sorry if this ending stinks, but it looked nice in my head. Plus, I might make a sequel, so you can calm down.**

 **I do not own anything but the concept of the Time Association.**

 **Once again, I hope you were able to get everything. Please, if anyone would like me to make a prequel or sequel, let me know. I have so many ideas for fanfiction now, and I would like to continue with these fandoms.**

 **Thanks to anyone who likes this story, to Love who helped me edit, and to my friends from the fanfiction class. I am so glad I took that spring course.**

 **Now, dear reader, I believe I must go celebrate. And eat cake.**

 **~Courage**


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